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Contractors to be fined for leaving roadwork at a standstill

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February 12th, 2015


This article is more than 9 years old.

Contractors who drag their heels on road work are set to be hit with hefty fines.

From July 1, the municipality will have the right to fine those who leave road work at a standstill and unfinished.

"We now have the possibility to issue fines if you just leave digging standing still. We have seen that contractors undertake many tasks at once and send their people around wherever it is most profitable, and leave the rest of the work to stand still, "says technical and environmental mayor Morten Kabell to business.dk

However the opposition aren't happy about this and are calling for increased co-operation between the municipality and contractors.

"We think it's a really bad way to go with fines," explains construction industry director, Niels Nielsen, "There are many conflicting interests and different concerns at these projects, and there may be many reasons why a project is delayed. The collaboration we have already started with the City of Copenhagen, working, and it's much better than someone running around with a fine block."

It's not just the fact the Copenhagen's streets are a mess, it is also a costly measure costing the economy 20 million kroner.

The situation is also proving frustrating for businesses. A study by Berlingske has shown that in the last 4 years, 70% of business owners feel that maneouvrability in the city has decreased drastically and 40% also feel that the work has hindered their ability to operate their businesses.

The new measure should hurry work along and ensure that work causes as little disruption as possible.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”